|
Did someone forward this to you? Get it in your own inbox next time.
|
|
Today's Topics
Thank you so much for charting with us this year, we have 2 final charts before we sign off for 2019:
- Fiat & Peugeot are merging to help them take on the big players in the automotive industry.
- Is Die Hard a Christmas movie? We explore.
The numbers behind the numbers:
3 charts, 563 words, 3 mins 55 seconds to read.
|
|
The car industry is not an easy one to make your fortune in. Huge capital intensity coupled with very cyclical demand markets and lots of global competition has suppressed profit margins for years.
The Bigger The Better
That's meant that the one route to better profitability has been scale. But, even Volkswagen Group, which owns brands such as VW, Audi, Seat, Bugatti, Porsche & many others doesn't make fat margins. In 2018 they made a little over a 7% operating profit margin.
So that brings us to Fiat Chrysler & Peugeot (PSA Groupe). Earlier this week they announced they were going to merge into a new entity, which combined would catapult them into the top 5 largest carmakers in the world.
The companies expect the deal to save them both billions in costs every year, but it will also give them the combined firepower to venture properly into electric vehicles. Sounds like a no brainer? Well, mergers in the industry haven't always been easy, and gluing together two companies of that size (the combined entity will have over 400,000 employees) is a lot easier said than done.
|
|
For our last chart of the year, we're revisiting Die Hard, and the continuing debate about whether it is indeed a Christmas movie. This chart was actually our very first one to go "viral" on reddit, where it got almost 20k upvotes, so we have a bit of a soft spot for it.
So, Is It A Christmas Movie?
If you judge it based on what people do... then yes. Every year, the number of people searching on Google for Die Hard starts to increase once December rolls around. We're going to assume that correlates with people actually watching the movie, and that they aren't just searching for no reason.
That said, Die Hard was initially released in July, 1988. Not exactly the first month that comes to mind when you think "Christmas movie".
Furthermore, when you actually ask people, they aren't so sure. A poll conducted by Morning Consult found that 63% of people who had seen Die Hard thought it was not a Christmas movie.
Either way - everyone is wrong - our favourite take on the debate comes from twitter:
|
|
Data Snacks
1) Australia has broken its all-time temperature record, with temperatures in Nullarbor hitting 49.9°C.
2) The final chapter of the latest Star Wars saga is getting mixed reviews. The Rise of Skywalker is at an average critic rating of just 58% on Rotten Tomatoes. However, that's nothing compared to Cats, which has been widely panned, and is at 20% on Rotten Tomatoes.
3) A man from Florida has paid off the utility bills for 36 families in his community who were all about to have their utilities shut off.
4) Premium journalism is too expensive right? Thanks to Mogul News it doesn’t have to be. For less than $5 a month you can read handpicked stories from premium publishers such as The Economist & Bloomberg. Try the 7-day free trial, cancel anytime.*
5) Most estimates suggest the typical person will consume somewhere between 5000-6000 calories on Christmas day. Enjoy it folks.
6) Mariah Carey is still rising on the Spotify charts, hitting third yesterday with over 4 million streams of "All I Want For Christmas Is You".
*This is a sponsored snack that helps keep our own lights on.
|
|
|
Not a subscriber? Sign up for free below.
|
|
|
See you in 2020!
This is our last newsletter of the year. The good news is that starting in January you'll be getting 2 of these a week. This Friday edition is staying put, and we're adding a Wednesday one as well.
Same format. Lots of charts, lots of facts and more data snacks than ever. Have ideas for us? We'd love to hear from you, just reply to this email, or click one of the links below!
|
|
|
That's all folks, see you in the roaring '20s.
Have some feedback or want to sponsor this newsletter?
|
|
|
|
|
